Saturday, April 16, 2011

Pressing for the Anti-Gay Bill to become Law in Uganda

LOL, not the chaos of Ugandans being arrested and beaten and tear gassed for walking to work. That is something else. It is about Ssempa's latest campaign to 'Have the anti-gay Bill become Law in Uganda..

I am going to pick and choose and extract some of the choicer things in the article.

They entered through Parliament's gates, an eclectic group. Their leader, the Rev. Martin Ssempa, wore sunglasses and long black robes embroidered with matching red crosses and two campaign buttons. One said, "Debate Our Bill Now!" and the other, simply, "No to Sodomy." To many here, Uganda's gay population does not represent a sexual minority advocating for its rights, but an underground threat promoting a cancerous vice. They accuse gay men and women of recruiting children in secondary schools, and maybe giving them H.I.V.

Nicely captures Dear Pastor 'eat da poo poo's' pomposity..... He lays it on, does the guy. And, yes, the badges from the church, they were saying exactly that. And, those are the things that dear Ssempa was saying again and again. I mean, his message. We spread HIV, and the bill is an HIV prevention measure. They are protecting 'the Family'. It is a clear and present danger, is Homosexuality in Uganda. And, it over-rides all other concerns. At least to Pastor 'eat da poo poo' and his friends.

But with Parliament closing next month, Mr. Ssempa, a leading religious figure from an independent sect of Christianity, made a last-ditch push last week, bringing a coalition of religious leaders, civil society organizers and two self-described former homosexuals to meet directly with the speaker of Parliament, Edward Kiwanuka Ssekandi. They presented him with a petition containing what they said were more than two million signatures in support of the bill.

Yep. that was the day. Maybe what they didnt talk about are Ssempa's slide shows... NO. He has learnt his lesson. Not porn this time. But, of how there was scientific proof that us homosexuals spread HIV. Did I tell you that Ssempa is an HIV activist? With lots of accolades, and lots of clout in the Ugandan Ministry of Health and Uganda AIDS Commission.

Mr. Ssempa, reading from the petition, began the meeting by saying he was "distressed" that the bill was being "deliberately killed" by "undemocratic threats" from Western nations, and called the political bullying "homocracy." A bag was passed around with "Debate Our Bill Now!" and "No to Sodomy," pins, before it came to rest in front of one of the so-called former homosexuals."These young people," Mr. Ssempa said, pointing toward the two young men, sitting stiffly across from him in front of the speaker, "will share their experiences having been recruited into homosexuality and coming out. And that is why we are here." Bishop Julius Oyet, sitting beside Mr. Ssempa, tried unsuccessfully to pin Speaker Ssekandi with the two "Debate Our Bill Now!" and "No to Sodomy" pins before speaking passionately on the "dire need" to "save the nation." "We are facing a defining moment, Mr. Speaker, in our nation, when we cannot allow one of the top pillars of our culture and civilization to crumble," the bishop said.

Julius Oyet. He has been an almost invisible force behind the Bill. But, he is there. and a man to note. Because, if anything, he seems to have much more influence than the grandiose and flamboyant, but shallow Ssempa. Oyet seems to play the role of ideologue. A powerful one.

"There are more concerns about what happens in Sweden and what the Americans are saying, but the two million Ugandans are here saying 'help us,' " argued Bishop Oyet. "Democracy demands that the people debate the issues of the people."

And, the witnesses. LOL. Georgina. I believe am right in using that name again. And Kagaba. Poor Georgina, George Oundo.

Mr. Kagaba, 27, went first."For me, I was lured into homosexuality by a headmaster of a primary school, who recently died," said Mr. Kagaba, speaking of the recently killed Mr. Kato. "He was our neighbor," Mr. Kagaba said, "and we embraced him." Mr. Kagaba said that Mr. Kato offered to pay his school fees, and soon Mr. Kagaba, 17 at the time, moved in. One day, Mr. Kagaba claimed, Mr. Kato bought him chicken and two Guinness beers, and raped him that night. The next morning, Mr. Kagaba says, Mr. Kato gave him $130. Other gay activists have vouched for Mr. Kato's innocence, and Mr. Kagaba himself said he became an outspoken gay activist for six years, until his family held an intervention and he met Mr. Ssempa. Now he says he counsels others at the pastor's One Love clinic in downtown Kampala, where they preach sexual purity and sing a cappella.

Kagaba has to be admired. He is a more reliable mouth piece than Georgina [LOL], and more willing to come up with lies.

130 USD. Good gods in heaven. In Uganda, that is a veritable load of money. In Ugandan shillings it is almost 300,000 shillings. God in heaven. That is about school fees for a couple of terms for many Ugandan students. I doubt that headmaster Kato had that kind of money. Seems as if everyone believes that us homosexuals have lots of money. But, for comparison, think of Georgina lured to parliament, because he was going to be payed 42 USD. That is believable. The 130 USD is frankly unbelievable. Not in Uganda. We simply do not have that kind of money. I mean, sex workers sell their services for 5,000 Uganda shillings.... that is for comparison! 2 bloody dollars. Yet, a school boy was given 130USD.... must have been a very rich headmaster, Mr David Kato.

But, Kagaba is like that. Told you about the time that he said that he had a gay marriage with another friend of mine. Far as I know, the affair had not progressed to him living with the guy.... But, hell, chickens do not become eagles. He is an admirable Ssempa lieutenant. And, he sprouts the filth. Recruitment, etc, etc. Even the International NGOs doing the 'recruitment'....!

Then comes poor Georgina. It is so interesting. The fact that Georgina did what he has been doing back with us. Saying the things that are put in his mouth, and then saying something else in private. Poor Georgina. Really poor Georgina.

Here is the 'Official version'. George Oundo.

Mr. Oundo, 26, a transgender person who used to go by the name Georgina, went next."I used to call myself the Queen Mother and Lady of the City," Mr. Oundo said. "I was recruited into homosexuality many years back, when I was 12." "When I joined Mr. Ssempa, I told him all my problems," he said. "I had to come out and join the struggle."Please help us; let the bill pass," he said.

Got that? Now, contrast with this person. This is the person I know.... but, they are actually the same person, not so? Here is the 'Real Version' Georgina. Former Queen Mother and Lady of the City.

But an hour later, in a quiet hotel, Mr. Oundo recanted much of what had been said at the meeting."David Kato was murdered; it was a plot," Mr. Oundo said. "I don't support the bill." As for being a "former homosexual," that, too, was not true."I've always been gay," Mr. Oundo said, in a timid but growing voice. "I didn't choose it.""David Kato was the first one who taught me to protect my human right," Mr. Oundo added. Mr. Oundo said that his presence alongside Mr. Ssempa at Parliament had been to "protect" himself and that he had been contacted only that morning by Mr. Kagaba about the meeting and offered about $42 to attend.

Poor Georgina.

Lying is part of the deal for him. Many times. Well, it is partly a survival factor. We have to always lie that we are not gay, it becomes second nature. But, some are more fluid than others.... LOL. I think he also wants to make amends to the community.

Which kind of means that the monetary incentives of Ssempa are running out. What incentives?

Here.

He said Mr. Ssempa had offered him about $2,000 in 2009 to repent and switch sides in the debate, but later reneged. Either way, Mr. Oundo became a poster-child for Mr. Ssempa's anti-homosexuality movement.

Uh, time to remind you that, Pastor Dr 'eat da poo poo' Ssempa is currently in court, accused of offering and giving money to some other men to accuse another prominent Pentecostal Pastor, Robert Kayanja.

The very things that he accuses us of, those are the things that he does. But, he is a 'man of god' so, of course we are the liars, and he is pure, driven snow. LOL.

But, it is good that they got him like this. I mean, trimming this lieutenant, Georgina from under him. I wonder how much money was he offered to go to the radio talk-show? I heard that he was there... as George Oundo. For some reason, Oundo is more believable and credible than Kagaba. Kagaba is consistent, but his lies are kind of transparent. Like the un-belivable 130 USD above. He is a consistent liar, but rings hollow, somehow.

But, some very poignant moments from Georgina.

But he said Uganda's gay population was full of "natural-borns," like himself."If I live or die, I am gay, and if I am buried, bury me gay," he said.

And, this one.

Across the table, Mr. Oundo, wearing a T-shirt with an American flag on it, seemed to have misty eyes, the bag of "No to Sodomy" pins spilling onto the table in front of him.

4 comments:

The situation for LGBT people in Uganda seems atrocious. I really wish the parliamentarians would kick Bahati's bill out for good.

What has happpened with Kagaba and Oundo is very sad. Perhaps they are both somewhat confused about their religion and sexuality? I well understand the anger and frustration at what they have done.

One little thing though... George Oundo, to my best knowledge, doesn't currently identify with being "Georgina". As advocates for the dignity of transgendered people, we sometimes ask for people to be respected for the gender they identity with rather than the one they were biologically born with. Given this, I worry that we risk being perceived as hypocrites when we address a man who wants to be identified as a man with a woman's name.

By the way, I admire you so much, Gug. Been following your blog for a while, and I think what you're doing is incredibly brave. People need to hear what is happening, and you seem to be one of the few people willing and able to speak out about how gay people are being treated in Uganda.

that's the thing about georgina: one day s/he says one thing about hir identity, and the next day (or within hours) s/he says something else. sometimes s/he calls hirself george, and sometimes georgina (though usually georgina, from what i've seen). sometimes s/he says s/he's trans, and sometimes s/he says s/he's gay, and sometimes s/he says s/he's ex-gay. or none of the above. i'm afraid it's not that clear-cut either way. so both of you are right, or maybe both of you are wrong.

That's probably a sad reflection on both George/Georgina's lack of brain, as well as the utter lack of sex and gender information in Uganda.

I have been sending some material out to a small nascent gay group in the west, and a number of them seem to think it's just about sex, and just want to know if there's any porn included.

To me, being gay is about the whole way I see and react to life, which is in some ways very different to the typical straight guy, though similar in others.

So they, and George/Georgina, seem to me to be victims of their regime's own sexual propaganda. Plus their own inability to see themselves as complete human beings outside of the conventional two-gender stereotypes.

Robbery Report: Update on Kampala Taxis
-
You remember, don’t you, that in the recent past we had taxi robberies in
Kampala. I wrote about it here.
Now, the law-enforcement people have come down har...